Crime Justice

Protesters take to the streets to condemn killing of Afghan migrants in Iran

By Omar

Hundreds of Afghans took on streets last week in Afghanistan to condemn the recent killing of Afghan migrants by Iranian forces. Protesters at the rallies called out the need for upholding justice for the Afghan victims and punishing those involved in atrocities. [Omar]

HERAT -- Anger over recent killings of Afghan migrants by Iranian forces continues to mount in Afghanistan as protesters take to the streets throughout the country to condemn Tehran.

On May 1, Iranian forces allegedly threw 47 Afghans into a river in the Dahan-e Zulfiqar border area, leading to the drownings of 29.

Afghan authorities have recovered the bodies of 12 drowned workers. The remaining 17 are still missing, according to the Afghan government's investigation committee.

Meanwhile, in an incident on June 3 that was caught on video, Iranian forces shot at a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants in Mehriz city, Yazd Province, leaving three dead and eight seriously wounded in the resulting flames.

A young Afghan protester holds a sign in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city on June 10 that reads "Neighbour, enough of the oppression." Hundreds of protesters took to the streets last week across Afghanistan to condemn the Iranian regime for its treatment of Afghan migrants. [Omar]

A young Afghan protester holds a sign in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city on June 10 that reads "Neighbour, enough of the oppression." Hundreds of protesters took to the streets last week across Afghanistan to condemn the Iranian regime for its treatment of Afghan migrants. [Omar]

Demonstrators shout slogans against the Iranian government during a protest in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city on June 10. [Omar]

Demonstrators shout slogans against the Iranian government during a protest in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city on June 10. [Omar]

The incidents sparked a number of anti-Iranian protests in Kabul, Helmand, Farah and Herat provinces, with participants burning the Iranian flag as well as portraits of the country's leaders.

More than 100 residents of Farah Province protested on the streets of Farah city on Thursday (June 11), a day after about 100 residents of Herat gathered in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city to chant slogans accusing the Iranian regime of being a killer of Afghans.

Those protests followed a gathering on Monday (June 8) in which dozens of young Afghans and civil society activists demonstrated in front of the United Nations (UN) office in Guzara District of Herat Province to call on the UN and international community to put pressure on Tehran to end the killing of Afghan migrants and workers in Iran.

The Iranian regime committed heinous and inhuman crimes against innocent Afghan migrants in Dahan-e Zulfiqar and Yazd Province that cannot be forgiven, said Abdul Latif Ahmadi, a resident of Herat city who took part in the June 10 protests.

"If Iran doesn't respond to our call for justice, we'll stage sit-ins in front of the Iranian consulate in Herat city and shut down its offices," he said.

In addition, boycotts against the use of Iranian products will soon begin in Herat Province, he added.

The government of Iran has always committed terrible crimes against Afghan migrants, and these crimes must stop, said Shakaib Pardes, a resident of Herat city, during the protest in front of the UN office in Herat city on June 8.

"We participated in these protests to share the crimes of the Iranian regime with the United Nations, and we called on the UN to hold Iran accountable in accordance with refugee laws so that it no longer resorts to killing innocent Afghan migrants and workers," he said.

"We want the United Nations to pass on our voice to the world so that everyone becomes aware of the brutalities of the Iranian government," said Muhammad, a resident of Herat city who goes by one name.

Tehran must punish the perpetrators of these murders and provide compensation to the families of victims, he said.

"We're giving a deadline of 10 days to Iran to try the perpetrators who killed the migrants in a court of law, or else we'll take more-serious steps against the country," he said.

"We'll continue our protests against Iran until it punishes the killers of Afghan migrants and stop committing crimes against Afghan workers," said Muhammad Mehdi, a resident of Herat city. "I know that Iran pursues its old enmity with Afghanistan, but it should not kill innocent workers."

"We'll keep the Iranian consulate in Herat city shut until our demands are met," he added.

A pattern of atrocities

Meanwhile, Afghan authorities are seeking to ensure that the deadly incidents are thoroughly investigated by both countries.

President Ashraf Ghani at a cabinet meeting on June 8 ordered Muhammad Hanif Atmar, the acting foreign minister, to investigate the fatal vehicle-burning incident in Yazd Province through diplomatic channels.

The government of Iran is investigating the killing of Afghan migrants in the country, while an Afghan delegation will soon travel to Iran to look into the deadly incident in Yazd Province, said the Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a press statement on Wednesday (June 10).

The ministry presented a report of the killing of Afghan migrants by Iranian forces at Afghanistan's National Security Council meeting on June 10.

"It was decided at the National Security Council meeting that a high-ranking Afghan delegation will be sent to Iran to explore solutions, prevent the recurrence of terrible incidents like the recent ones, and look into the causes of these bloody incidents," it said in the statement.

The atrocities committed by the Iranian forces are nothing new, said Dadullah Qani, a member of the Farah provincial council.

"The Iranian government has been brutal to Afghan migrants and workers for years," he said. "The killing of Afghans by Iranian forces is the most brutal thing, which we strongly condemn."

"We call on the Afghan government to send a high-ranking delegation to Iran where it can defend the rights of Afghan citizens," added Qani. "The government should stop its submissive politics and defend their [Afghans'] rights based on international law and political agreements."

Little remorse

For its part, the Iranian regime has shown little remorse for these brutal acts. It has not admitted drowning the workers in the river.

In response to protests seeking justice for the deadly incidents involving Afghan migrant workers, Tehran has stepped up its purge of labourers by deporting them in large numbers, Afghan officials have said.

At the same time, the regime continues to meddle in Afghanistan's affairs through its continuous support of the Taliban.

Shah Muhammad, a resident of Farah city who protested against the Iranian regime on June 11, denounced Tehran for its efforts to prop up terrorist groups who seek to destabilise Afghanistan.

"The Bakhshabad hydro-electricity dam was supposed to be built a few years ago, but Iran made every effort to prevent the dam's construction," he said. "It still supports the Taliban so that it can stop work on the dam by spreading violence and unrest."

The Iranian regime has always been involved in the killing and massacres of Afghans with the help of groups it supports [on the ground], he said, adding that the government of Iran spearheads many of the clashes in Farah Province in which security forces and civilians are killed.

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Read how did Britain separated Afghanistan from Iran in order to plunder its defenseless and meek people and destroy them. (Afghanistan has been the cradle of Iranian culture and I as an Iranian still love and respect Iranian Afghans). The oppression which is being committed against the Afghans is not of the Iranians, but it is because of the poverty that the Britain and the Westerners have inflicted on them. By God, Afghans themselves in Iran due to poverty go and live in dangerous places of Iran, where even I Iranian do not dare to go to those places.

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Afghans were Iranians who did not like Iran in the past years and parted. There are now 3 million Afghans living among Iranians and they are ready to take the risk of illegal immigration and flee Afghanistan. The job of border security guards everywhere in the world is to prevent the illegal arrival of immigrants. (He does not have any other job.) Now why is the Afghan government not paving the way for the legal entry of the oppressed Afghans? Why is the Afghan government not providing an easy way for Afghans to migrate?

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Go to hell with such words. Who says that Afghans were Iranians? Do you know when Iran was created? It was created in 1965. Before that it was called Fars, and Fars was part of the Afghan empire during Mir Wais Hotak and Ahmad Shah Durrani; two Afghan kings. Do not alter the history. Read the history independently and do not trust the fool regime of Iran who kills its people in the demonstrations and then arrest those who launch civil protests. Afghans are not migrating illegally; it is Iran and Pakistan who launch terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, kill innocent civilians, destroy power dams... Soon as the situation lets Afghans, we will drag the Iranian and Pakistani establishments to the international criminal court and ask them for their shameful acts of sponsoring armed groups against our government and against the civilians.

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Iran is a dictator and cruel country. Iranian officials have summoned Afghan ambassador in Tehran and asked him why people in Afghanistan are launching protests against Iran. They do not give even the right of protest to the people. Death to Iran and to Iran's mercenaries in Afghanistan.

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Iran will not apologize from the people of Afghanistan for killing of Afghans. The Iranian government is the most arrogant and dictatorial government in the world. Some media outlets have reported that the Iranian government has summoned the Afghan ambassador in Tehran for he visited the injured people of the recent incident in which a number of Afghan refugees were killed and wounded by Iranian forces. The Iranian government does not value or regard Afghans, including Afghan diplomats in that country like mosquitoes. Nor does it respect the Afghan culture. You saw last year that the Iranian government forces prevented the Eid al-Fitr prayers that took place at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran and did not allow Afghans to perform their Eid prayers in that country. Iran did this as this country celebrates Eid every year after Saudi Arabia, but Afghanistan, along with Saudi Arabia, celebrates Eid in the same day. You know that the embassies in any country are safe, and they can celebrate their religious ceremonies, historical and national days as well as their cultural ones in the embassies, and the government has no right to tell them why they celebrate them on this and that day. The Afghan ambassador is also a coward person. If he had a little Afghani gallantry, he would have left the country immediately and returned to his own country.

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Death to Iran and Hassan Rouhani who kill our innocent people every day. May God destroy all those who have ill intentions for Afghanistan and Afghans.

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I realized now how much Iranians are rude and uncivilized people. On one side, the misfortune drowned the Afghan workers in the river, on the other side they shot and set on fire the car of Afghan migrants, and instead of seeking apology on Saturday they summoned Abdul Ghafoor Liwal, ambassador of Afghanistan in Tehran to their foreign ministry. Afghanistan's two neighbors; Pakistan and Iran are completely dirty, uncivilized, hateful and cruel people.

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No one invited you lousy, narcotics addicts to come to Iran and made our country dirty, and you are still quibbling. Did we come to Afghanistan and kill people? Did we come illegally? Iran is not a country without owner. Go to China and Turkmenistan. You roamed in Iran in all these years freely, and now it is the time to leave.

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Death to Iran and its dictatorial and authoritarian government. May God overthrow the tyrannical government of Iran. The Iranian people must rise up against the government of this country and form a democratic system, because now dictatorial and authoritarian regimes are no longer working.

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Iran is criminal, and it is the murderer of poor Afghan workers who immigrated to Iran for labor works. Forces who were involved in the killing of these Afghan refugees must be punished in an international tribunal, and the Iranian government must order that Iranian soldiers no longer have the right to shoot Afghan refugees.

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